Improvement in couplings for vehicles



N. W. GORDON. Fifth Wheel. No. 56,2()7. Y Patented July 10, 1866.

Inventor: yfwoorc, du M J. l f Mw NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

N. W. GORDON, OF WAUPUN, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN COUPLINGS FOR VEHIGLES.V

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, N. W. GORDON, of the town of Waupun, county of Fond du Lac, inI the State of Visconsin, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Coupling Wagons; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters representing like parts in the several figures.

The nature of my invention consists in dispensing with a king bolt and substituting instead thereof two plates, each having dovetailed projections, and one iittin'g into the other.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

It is well known that king-bolts are more or less liable to break, or other disarrangement leads to the letting down of the front part ofthe body of the wagon or other vehicle, leading to bad or serious consequences, while the front wheels with tongue, &c., go onward. To remedy this is' the object of my invention.

The raised part cl of plate D has a dovetailed cavity, d. It is also open at the rear, at e. The projection c of plate C is also of dovetailed form, and it is of ring shape, not concentric, having a eavity,f, and an openin g, g. The part c, fitting into d or its cavity d', takes the place of the king-bolt.

F is a part of the tongue, having a metal hoop, h, at its rear end. This is intended to embrace d, and to rest between the axle-tree and the bolster, the strain coming upon d.

Fig. 6 shows how c and el are tit into each other-that is, at the commencement. At this time the bolster is nearly at right angles to the axle. It is then turned in the direction of the arrow z', after c is inserted into d, and given about one and one-quarter revolution. This completely secures c in (l. Before doing this, however, the hoop of the tongue is putln the position shown it Y over d, as shown. permits the insertion. When, however, the tongue is turned to the front and the bolster has its proper position the hoop h assists in preventingany separation of the parts.

` Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. The combination of the plate C with the bolster B.

2. The combination of the plate D with the axle A.

3. The combination of plates O and D, constructed and operating substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

` N. W. GORDON. Witnesses:

JOHN WARE, BEN. Gom/LAN. 

